People gather at the site following a fatal fire at a wedding celebration in Iraq's Nineveh province.
Credit: Reuters Photo
At least 100 people were killed and 150 were injured in a fire at a wedding celebration in the district of Hamdaniya in Iraq's Nineveh province, Iraqi state media said early on Wednesday, with local sources saying the toll was expected to rise.
The fire ripped through a large events hall in the north-eastern region after fireworks were lit during the celebration, local civil defence said, according to state media.
Video from a Reuters correspondent at the site showed firefighters clambering over the charred wreckage of the building in search of survivors.
Preliminary information indicated that the building was made of highly flammable construction materials, contributing to its rapid collapse, state media said.
Ambulances and medical crews were dispatched to the site by federal Iraqi authorities and authorities in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, according to official statements.